Nigeria loses N120bn annually to foreign production of advertising materials

The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) says the nation’s advertising industry loses over N120 billion annually to the production of advertising, advertisement and marketing communication materials outside the country.

The Director-General of ARCON, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, said this in a statement made available to the newsmen in Abuja on Monday.

He said the development had continuously led to job loss as well as retarded the growth and development of the advertising industry.

According to Fadolapo, the current efforts of the Federal Government on job creation, inclusive growth and development are negatively affected by the trend.

He said Section 8(1)( I) of ARCON Act No 23 of 2022 empowered the council to ensure the preservation of local content and the use of indigenous skills in advertising, advertisement and marketing communication materials.

Fadolapo said the council would commence the implementation of a policy to ensure a minimum of 75 per cent cumulative local content of all materials.

In implementing the policy, he said models and voice-over artists must be Nigerians while the materials must also be done in the country as well reflect its ambiance.

Fadolapo also said while the production crew may include foreigners, ” Nigerians and Nigerian organisations must partake in the production.”

He added that the policy would enable Nigerians and the economy to benefit from an industry that had enjoyed tremendous local patronage.

The director-general also said the policy would create over 500,000 new job opportunities annually within the advertising industry with a positive multiplier effect on the economy.

The new policy, he added, would attract investment into the industry while capital flight would be discouraged.